Anthem
Anthem is an online multiplayer action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on February 22, 2019. Set on an unnamed planet, players assume the role of Freelancers, heroic adventurers who wear powerful exosuits to defend humanity from the threats beyond their cities' walls. The game's title refers to the Anthem of Creation, a powerful and mysterious force responsible for most of the extraordinary technology, phenomena, and threats in the world. In the main narrative, the player's Freelancer is tasked with stopping the villainous Monitor from seizing control of the Anthem. Anthem received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized it for its grind, technical aspects, and story, contributing to an experience that felt repetitive and shallow, although its combat, flight controls, and visuals received some praise. Setting Anthem is set on an unnamed planet littered with advanced technological relics that harness an omnipresent energy source known as The Anthem of Creation.6Unstable relics can spontaneously terraform sections of the planet, mutate wildlife, change the local climate, create portals, and spawn monstrous creatures. Extremely unstable artifacts can envelope a significant area with destructive energies, storms, and creatures, rendering them barren and inhospitable. Such events are known as Cataclysms.6 Humanity has limited knowledge as to the origins of these relics, how they work, and the extent of their abilities, but believe they were created by a godlike race called the Shapers, who abandoned the planet thousands of years ago for unknown reasons. The Anthem and the Shapers are revered by some people as the source of all life.6 Centuries before the start of the game, humanity was enslaved by a race of creatures called the Urgoth. A human named Helena Tarsis and her compatriots used Shaper technology to invent powerful exosuits that would allow them to fight back. These exosuits became known as Javelins, and Tarsis sacrificed herself to overthrow the Urgoth, who haven't been seen since. Over the centuries, General Tarsis and her Legion of Dawn became heroic legends to humanity, which also reestablished itself as a dominant race. In the nation of Bastion, most people live in fortified cities protected by Sentinels: Javelin pilots who act as the primary security and police force within the city walls. National security issues that require discretion and espionage are handled by Corvus, Bastion's official intelligence and diplomatic agency. Beyond the cities is a frontier filled with dangerous creatures, exiled outlaws, a hostile insectoid race called Scars, and random disasters caused by unstable Shaper artifacts. Cities rely on Freelancers, a faction of altruistic Javelin-piloting mercenaries, to deal with these threats. In the field, Freelancers rely on the help of Cyphers, individuals who are naturally attuned to the Anthem and use their resulting psychic gifts to remotely assist on missions and process data. Ten years before the main campaign, an authoritarian faction called The Dominion attacked the city of Freemark, which was the Freelancers' primary base of operations. The Dominion wanted to access a Shaper relic beneath the city called the Cenotaph, believing it would grant them control over the Anthem. Their activation of the Cenotaph resulted in an explosion that annihilated Freemark and left an expanding Cataclysm in its place called the Heart of Rage. Plot A famed Freelancer named Haluk rallies an army of Freelancers to enter the Heart of Rage and deactivate the Cenotaph. Among them is the player's unnamed character, a rookie undertaking their first mission. Accompanying them is Faye, Haluk's own wife and Cypher. Shortly into the mission, all the other Freelancers are killed, prompting Faye to call a retreat, with the player evacuating a wounded Haluk. The resounding failure causes people to lose faith in the Freelancers, whose ranks are now decimated. Two years later, the player has settled in Fort Tarsis, a frontier city between The Heart of Rage and Antium, Bastion’s capital. Partnered with a young Cypher named Owen, they make a living completing modest Freelancer contracts for the locals. Owen aspires to be a Freelancer, despite his psychic abilities being a hindrance to piloting a Javelin. An agent of Corvus named Tassyn hires the player to locate a spy who went missing while undercover with a smuggling gang called the Regulators. At a devastated Regulator hideout, they encounter a Dominion leader called The Monitor. The Monitor is a powerful Cypher, a skilled Javelin pilot, and participated in the assault on Freemark that created the Heart of Rage. The Monitor executes Tassyn's spy and takes a Shaper relic that they were hiding. Tassyn surmises that The Dominion is collecting relics for another attempt to reach the Cenotaph, and rehires the player to reach the Cenotaph first. She also notes that Haluk and Faye have spent the past two years developing a new plan to deactivate the Cenotaph, recruiting the pair to Tassyn's mission. Faye and Haluk believe that the only Javelin able to survive the Heart of Rage is General Tarsis’s legendary Javelin of Dawn. Using clues found in the tombs of Tarsis’s Legionnaires, they locate Tarsis’s secret tomb. Within her tomb, the player's obtains Taris's signet, which acts as a key to the Fortress of Dawn- the site of Tarsis's last stand and the Javelin of Dawn's resting place. At the Temple of Dawn, the player is challenged by trials of skill and resolve. After reenacting Tarsis’s last stand, an apparition of General Tarsis declares the player to possess the qualities of a Legionnaire of Dawn and grants access to her Javelin. Before the player can take possession of the Javelin of Dawn, their own Javelin freezes up. Owen appears and takes credit for sabotaging their Javelin so he can take the Javelin of Dawn for himself. He plans to accept The Monitor's offer to spare Fort Tarsis in exchange for assisting him with the Javelin of Dawn, and accuses the player of keeping him from his dream to be a Freelancer. Before Owen leaves in the Javelin of Dawn, Faye scans its unique shielding module, the Shield of Dawn, hoping that it can be duplicated so the player can enter the Heart of Rage with their own Javelin. Haluk and Faye succeed in building a copy of the Shield of Dawn, but are unable to activate it. At the same time, Tassyn arrives to announce that The Dominion are nearing the Heart of Rage. Tassyn also reveals that she hired the player at Faye's own request in order to replace Haluk's role as a Javelin pilot. Upset, Haluk flies his Javelin to the Fortress of Dawn to find a way to activate the Shield of Dawn, but is ambushed by The Dominion. The player arrives to find that Haluk was saved by Owen, who apologizes for his betrayal. As a peace offering, Owen gives up his own Shield of Dawn before leaving. After activating the Shield of Dawn on their Javelin, the player returns to the Heart of Rage, with Faye and Haluk providing remote support. The player discovers that The Monitor has used the conduit to merge with the Anthem, and is forced to fight him. After The Monitor dies, Faye uses her powers to deactivate the Cenotaph and close the Heart of Rage. While celebrating in Fort Tarsis, the player is pulled away by Tassyn to see the corpse of a Urgoth recently discovered and killed inside of Bastion's borders. Suspecting another crisis, the player is asked to be ready to help again. Category:Video Games Category:Xbox One Games Category:Xbox One X Enhanced Category:Multiplayer video games Category:Multiplayer online games Category:Online games Category:Cooperative video games Category:Open world games Category:Role-playing video games Category:2019 Video Games